It is well known in the prior art to provide a fuel filler pocket which surrounds a fuel filler neck and is closed by a fuel cover door. A fuel filler cap may be removed from the fuel filler neck and gasoline may be inserted into the fuel filler neck by a gasoline pump nozzle. The fuel filler pocket provides a housing for the fuel filler neck and also provides structure to which the fuel filler neck is attached. It is known to provide a fuel filler pocket which is an integral cup-shaped piece connected to the vehicle body sheet metal. The fuel filler pocket also typically serves the purpose of capturing and draining any fuel spillage around the filler neck.
It is also known in the prior art to provide the fuel cover door which is also mounted to the vehicle sheet metal and which is movable between a closed condition covering the fuel filler pocket and the fuel filler neck and an open condition in which the fuel filler neck is accessible. As is well known in the art, the fuel cover door may be electronically released and opened by a remote button located in the passenger compartment of the vehicle which depresses a plunger mounted on the fuel filler pocket to release the fuel cover door. However, if the electrical release should function improperly, it is also known that the fuel cover door may be opened mechanically by a back-up fuel cover door release cable typically located in the rear compartment of the vehicle. The release cable may be manually pulled to depress the plunger and release and open the fuel cover door, as is also well known in the art.
However, one of the shortcomings of this arrangement is the accessibility of the release cable and the plunger during assembly. The fuel filler pocket is a single component mounted to the vehicle body sheet metal. The release cable extends between the rear compartment and the fuel filler pocket. The plunger is attached to the end of the release cable. To assemble the plunger to the fuel filler pocket, the plunger and the release cable must be fished out from between the inner and outer body sheet metal and attached to the fuel filler pocket which is already mounted on the vehicle. The plunger end of the release cable can then be attached to the small plunger hole in the fuel filler pocket. However, accomplishing this attachment requires one operator on the inside of the vehicle or underneath the vehicle who fishes the release cable through the inner and outer sheet metal body panels and inserts the plunger into the plunger hole from behind the fuel filler pocket while a second operator stands outside the vehicle and places the nut on the plunger from the inside of the pocket to attach the plunger and release cable to the fuel filler pocket.
In light of the difficulty in assembling the release cable to the fuel filler pocket, many vehicles continue to have the traditional fuel cover doors which are manually flipped open, instead of remotely released.